Reborn in Type-Moon: Starting by Adopting Sakura - Chapter 36

The rain kept falling, as if the sky had forgotten how to stop weeping.

Through the car window, the city dissolved into watercolor brushstrokes, all soft edges and bleeding light. Inside their small sanctuary, Irisviel's fingers trembled as she worked the buttons of her white blouse.

She couldn't lift her head. The memory of his touch still lived on her skin, a warmth that seemed to pulse with her heartbeat. Even now, fully clothed, she felt exposed in a way that had nothing to do with fabric. Her cheeks burned with a heat so intense she wondered, almost absurdly, if it might actually steam-dry the rain from her clothes.

Yuu watched her in the rearview mirror, his expression settling into something grave and distant. Her Magic Circuit—so different from anything he'd encountered. Now, finally, he understood why.

The deal he'd struck with the Einzberns years ago had been a calculated risk. Touko's dollcraft and those crystallized relics in exchange for access to their workshop. They'd kept their deepest secrets locked away, of course, but he'd seen enough. More than enough.

The Einzbern Castle in Germany wasn't just a home or even a fortress. It was a living computer, its walls and foundations designed around a single artificial intelligence: Jubstacheit. The construct they called "Old Man Acht" had long ago consumed whatever remained of the eighth family head's humanity. What walked those halls now was pure function—a mind built only to operate the castle and chase the impossible dream of replicating the Third Magic.

Each generation of Einzberns was programmed with just enough synthetic humanity to pass for real. But it was mimicry, nothing more. A performance of human emotion and desire that could fool most observers but never quite achieve the genuine article. That gap between imitation and authenticity had been Yuu's opening—the flaw that let him negotiate what should have been an impossible deal.

And now, looking at Irisviel as she finally raised her head, her eyes still soft with recent vulnerability, he understood exactly how irreplaceable she truly was to them. Not just as an heir or a vessel, but as something unprecedented in their carefully constructed lineage.

She had the potential to reach the Third Magic precisely because she was everything they were not—real, spontaneous, beautifully, impossibly human.

Yuu looked at her. His voice came out low, almost like he didn’t want to ask—but needed to. “Your Magic Circuit… is it from a Lesser Holy Grail?”

The air between them stilled.

The Greater Grail—legendary, coveted, dangerous—was the endgame of the Holy Grail War. A vessel that could grant any wish, fought over by seven Masters and their Servants. The Lesser Grail wasn’t nearly as grand, but it was no less essential. It held the souls of the fallen, kept the link alive between myth and reality. And to the Einzberns, it was the key to everything. Their dream. The Third Magic.

Irisviel didn’t flinch. She tilted her head just slightly, fingers brushing the edge of her collar. “Until the Third War, the Lesser Grail really was just that—a cup. A sacred vessel. A container.”

She paused. Refastened the fabric at her neck. Then met his eyes.

“But that one was destroyed during the war. Midway through a battle. And without it…” A pause. “The ritual couldn’t go on.”

Her tone didn’t change, but something in her face did—softer, maybe. Sadder.

“Afterward, the family head started wondering… what if the Grail could take care of itself? What if it didn’t need protection? What if it could think? Move?”

“So that’s what they did,” she said. “After the Third War, after losing so much, they tried again. Only this time, they gave the Lesser Grail a body. A mind. A way to survive on its own.”

Yuu didn’t say anything.

Because he knew what she meant.

She didn’t have to spell it out.

That body. That mind.

That existence—was Irisviel von Einzbern.

No matter who won the Holy Grail War, Irisviel would eventually activate. Her personality would disappear. Her body would become nothing more than an altar, summoning the Greater Grail into the world.

And that would be it. The end of her.

She wasn't a person to them. She was a tool. Something the Einzberns had built for one specific job. And maybe the entire family was just tools at this point. All of them existing for the same reason: to make the Third Magic happen.

“I’m sorry, Yuu.” Irisviel’s voice snapped back to that bright tone she always used when things got too heavy. “That was depressing, wasn’t it?” She smiled and reached over to tap his chest playfully. “So when the time comes, just... look at me, okay? Really look. Remember that I was here.”

Yuu's expression hadn't changed since he'd figured out what she was. Still serious. Still thinking.

"Iri."

"Mm?"

"Is achieving the Third Magic your wish too?"

She blinked at him.

"It's my mission," she said automatically. "It's what I was born for."

"I don't care about what you were born for. If everything's already decided, then what's the point of living?" He took her hand. "I want to know what you want. Not your family. You. Do you actually want to achieve the Third Magic?"

Irisviel stared at him. She could see her reflection in his eyes, and for a second, she didn't recognize herself.

"My wish?"

Nobody had ever asked her that. Not once. Her whole life had been about the family's goal, the family's mission, the family's dream.

Well, except for that one time. New Year's Eve, snow falling outside, when he'd held her hand just like this and asked what she wanted. She'd said she wanted to create a new life with him. Nearly killed the poor guy.

But now... she couldn't just say something like that.

She looked away. "My wish doesn't matter."

His grip tightened. "It matters to me."

Yuu's stare was making her nervous. There was nowhere to go in the small car, and he was still holding her hand. She felt trapped.

He tugged gently, and she stumbled forward with a little "Ah!" and found herself pressed against his chest.

She didn't know what to do. Her heart was racing.

Yuu seemed to understand. He wrapped his arms around her, running his fingers through her hair.

She could feel how warm he was through his shirt. He lowered his head to her ear.

"Iri, tell me something. Would you still go after the Third Magic if it meant dying for it?"

She didn't answer.

"Do you not like staying at my place?"

"No!" She shook her head, pressing her face into his chest. "That's not it. I want to be with you, Yuu. This whole summer... it's been the best time of my life. I want to be with you every day."

His hand moved along her back. "Me too. If you weren't around, I'd be really sad."

She looked up at him. Her eyes felt hot. "Really?"

"Of course." He smiled. "Where else am I going to find such a perfect secretary?"

She hit his shoulder. "You just want a live-in assistant."

"Maybe. But it has to be you."

She buried her face in his chest again, listening to his heartbeat.

The fear that had been sitting in her chest all day started to fade. Even if she was just something the Einzberns had made. Even if she was going to die.

She wasn't giving this up.

After a while, he whispered, "I told you. You can leave everything to me."

Her breath was warm against his shirt.

"Will you trust me?"

"Mm."

"Let's go home."

"Mm."

Now that Irisviel had told him everything, there was no way Yuu was going to just ignore it.